Jolt, Van Uden, and the Youthful Dutch Storm the Admiral’s Cup and Fastnet Finish Line

Jolt 6 crossed the Rolex Fastnet Race line at 21:47:15 on Tuesday, hot on the heels of the IRC Overall prize. Had she claimed it, she would’ve joined a very exclusive club: only two yachts in history — Red Rooster in ’69 and Clarion of Wight in ’63 — have taken both the Admiral’s Cup and the Fastnet Challenge Cup in the same year.

At the wheel for the Fastnet was Casiraghi, who pulled in a crack team including IMOCA star Will Harris, the unstoppable Cole Brauer, Olympian Ben Saxton, and AC veteran Andrew McLean. Jolt 6’s crew pedigree reads like a who’s-who of high-end offshore talent.

“It was exhausting. Eyes like ghosts at the finish,” Casiraghi admitted. “But Will nailed it on nav, and we kept it clean. Callisto had us at one point, but we ground them back in. It was a knife fight, but it worked.”

Unfortunately, they just missed out on IRC Overall, settling for 6th place, but still secured Admiral’s Cup Class 2 honours in the Rolex Fastnet Race, just 2 minutes and 45 seconds ahead of Philippe Frantz’s Albator. Third was Django JPK, skippered by Michele Ivaldi and sailing for Yacht Club Costa Smeralda. All three teams cracked the top 10 in a record-breaking 380-boat IRC fleet.

The Dutch Delight: Van Uden’s Young Guns Rise Up Down the docks, another story was brewing—one of youth, hunger, and a bit of Dutch firepower. Rotterdam Offshore Sailing Team’s Ker 46 Van Uden—helmed by Gerd-Jan Poortman, once an ABN AMRO kid in the 2005-06 Volvo Ocean Race—delivered a crushing blow to Admiral’s Cup Class 1. They won their division by 2 hours 45 minutes on corrected time.

What makes it sweeter? The team is mostly made up of young Dutch sailors, average age just 23, with some as young as 19. Second place went to Daniel E. Baum’s Elida, with Eric de Turckheim’s Teasing Machine in third.

“We got lucky with the breeze,” Poortman said. “Rounded the Rock about 10th or 11th, but the wind tracked with us down the course. It followed us, not the big boats.”

The story’s bigger than the win. Back home in Holland, the press is on fire. “It’s exploding,” Poortman laughed. “It shows that if you prep and train hard, you don’t need pros to win this game.”

The win bookends a 26-year pro career for Poortman, who also won the Admiral’s Cup back in ’99. “Full circle,” he grinned.

Farewells and Fastnet Firsts While Jolt and Van Uden celebrated, others prepared to close chapters. Paul Standbridge, former Whitbread skipper and British offshore stalwart, finished his final Admiral’s Cup campaign aboard Black Pearl, first of the Admiral’s Cup fleet to cross. It’s the end of a storied sailing career dating back to the early 1980s.

Although not winning the Admiral’s Cup overall, Yacht Club de France posted a third and a second in their divisions, handing them the overall Fastnet class win across the Admiral’s Cup fleets.

Meanwhile, the Class40 showdown delivered its own photo finish — after 700 miles of neck-and-neck racing, just under two minutes separated the winner. Faites un don sur SNSM.org, skippered by Corentin Douguet and Axel Tréhin, held off the fleet. Notably, the top half of the 24-strong Class40 fleet finished within 47 minutes — a testament to how fiercely competitive this class has become.

VO70 Showdown and the Ghosts of Champions Past Over in IRC Super Zero, the turbo sleds came out swinging. Christian Zugel’s upgraded VO70 Tschüss 2 took class honours, just over an hour ahead of Roy Disney’s Pyewacket 70, with Leopard 3 clocking in third.

Tschüss 2, formerly Wizard, won the Fastnet in 2019 under the Askew brothers. A second win would have made her the first yacht ever to take IRC Overall twice under different names — but she ultimately dropped to 22nd overall.

Meanwhile, Pyewacket 70 is set for retirement. After years of Transpacs and Fastnet glory, Roy Disney is hanging up the sails on this boat (though not sailing entirely — he’s still campaigning a maxi).

Enderpearl and Bedouin Make It Count In IRC Zero, Kenneth Bjoerklund’s CND76 Enderpearl surprised many by clinching first place. Designed for comfort and cruising rather than raw speed, she relished the upwind drag to the Rock, holding off La Loevie (a Swan 76 co-skippered by Jean-Pierre Dick) and Boudragon, Hans Bouscholte’s VO60.

Meanwhile, in IRC One, a real battle is still brewing. Linda Goddard’s Swan 53 Bedouin is holding onto her lead in what’s shaping up to be one of the toughest classes of the race. Behind her, former Fastnet champion Géry Trentesaux’s Long Courrier and the JPK 1180 Dawn Treader (helmed by Ed Bell and Mark Spearman) are chasing hard — though both suffered a 2-hour time penalty for being OCS at the start.

Vintage campaigners Ermanno Traverso’s Stormvogel — the original 1961 line honours winner — continue to impress. She’s currently fifth in class, 27th overall, and proof that legends never truly retire.

A Race to Remember The centenary edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race will be remembered for close finishes, fresh faces, and legendary farewells. From Casiraghi’s near miss to Poortman’s youth movement, and the enduring spirit of boats like Stormvogel, the 2025 Fastnet didn’t just deliver records — it delivered stories.

And as the last boats trickle into Cherbourg, the wind drops, and the champagne dries, one thing is clear: offshore racing is as fierce, proud, and alive as ever.